Making a historical docudrama from start to finish.

09/17/2018

Sons & Daughters of Thunder producers Kelly and Tammy Rundle of Fourth Wall Films have received a Mid-America Emmy® nomination for their new documentary Good Earth: Awakening the Silent City. This is the Rundles' fourth Emmy® nomination.

The Moline, Illinois-based independent production company successfully competed with 42 proposals by 36 other media production companies nationwide to win a contract to produce "Good Earth" for the visitors center at South Dakota's newest State Park, Good Earth at Blood Run.

Good Earth: Awakening the Silent City tells the fascinating and forgotten story of the Blood Run National Historic Landmark as told by a Native American grandfather to his grandchildren. Produced in 4K, the documentary combines vivid present-day views of the park's scenic vistas and wildlife with dramatic historical reenactments portraying daily life in the year 1650.

The Good Earth site in Iowa and South Dakota was occupied between 1500 and 1725 by ancestors of the present-day Omaha, Ponca, Ioway and Otoe-Missouria tribes, making it one of the oldest long-term habitation sites in the United States. At its peak around 1650, the site was home to 6,000-10,000 residents--more than Boston (2,000) and New York (New Amsterdam-1,000) in that same year--making It the largest city in what is now the United States.

Good Earth was an important Native trading center for pipestone, bison hides and culture. The once-vibrant city featured hundreds of lodges, earthen mounds, and a serpent-shaped effigy mound an eighth of a mile long.

A number of Sons & Daughters of Thunder wonderful and talented crew worked on the Good Earth documentary project with the Rundles, including Kimberly Kurtenbach who served as casting director/assistant director; Kevin Railsback who served as the nature director of photography, Chris Ryder who served as re-enactment director of photography/editing assistant; Lora Adams served as assistant director/modern wardrobe supervisor; and Melinda Carriker served as cultural wardrobe/props/set supervisor.

Mark your calendars and save the date for Saturday, March 9, 2019 for the Quad Cities premiere of Thunder at the Putnam Museum National Geographic Giant Screen at 6:30 p.m. It will be a wonderful celebration with a number of cast and crew appearing at the event. The film will be dedicated to Kent Hawley (whom we lost in November 2017) and his wife playwright Earlene Hawley. News regarding the special February 2019 premiere in Cincinnati (where the true story took place) will be shared soon!